Study mulls melding RR, ports, TransPark.

• Position: Eastern

As separate entities, the state-owned ports, railroad and air-cargo complex handle billions of dollars worth of goods each year and provide valuable transportation links for local, interstate and international commerce. But few would argue they have no room for improvement. The Wilmington-based N.C. State Ports Authority lost $5.9 million in its latest fiscal year. The North Carolina Railroad Co., based in Raleigh, is studying the possibility of increasing passenger service, and the North Carolina Global TransPark in Kinston sputtered for more than a decade before landing its first major tenant.

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Some state lawmakers want to know what would happen if they were combined into a single entity. One of them thinks he knows the answer. "There's more strength than each one independent," says Rep. Danny McComas, the Wilmington Republican who championed legislation authorizing a study of the idea. The owner of MCO Transport Inc., a Wilmington-based trucking company, McComas is a member of the Governor's Logistics Task Force, which he says will have the study done by the next legislative session. He suspects it will show a combined system to be more efficient. A shipment could arrive at the port, be shipped by rail to the TransPark and then flown out to the West Coast in a matter of hours, he says.

The possibilities intrigue Gene Conti, TransPark chairman and state secretary of transportation, who says a combined entity could reduce administrative costs...